Some conventional operating systems provide users the capability to “roll back” or “restore” the operating system and/or applications executing on a computer to a state in which those components existed at a previous point in time. For example, “system restore” capability may allow a user to roll back system files, registry keys, installed applications, and/or other components to a state in which the components existed prior to a system malfunction or failure. Similarly, some operating systems provide the capability to perform a “system reset,” whereby the operating system and/or applications are reset to their original, “factory” settings. Typically, a system reset involves performing a system restore to take the system back to the state in which it originally existed, prior to any changes being made to the operating system and/or applications. (The terms “system restore” and “system reset” are used herein to reference these capabilities for convenience, although any similarity between either of these terms and a term used to describe a capability provided by any conventional operating system should not be read to limit the term to the functionality provided by that operating system.)